Edwin Ash was a celebrated medical doctor who practiced and lectured in London. He was published in the Lancet which is to this day the most important and respected peer reviewed medical journal.

As the subtitle 'A Practical Handbook' suggests, this is a work for the practitioner. It covers various methods to induce hypnosis, describes muscular and sensory phenomena, post-hypnotic influence, suggestive therapeutics, and a lot more.